All in One or Piecing it Out?

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Scottyhorse

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Oct 11, 2012
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Soo.... Time for me to start planning for my 2nd annual super awesome spectacular New Years Tank! :dance: :)

It's going to be a planted tank... Hopefully medium to high light. I've had planted tanks before. One became low light when duckweed smothered the plants, the other DW and moss. So I am really hoping to have a nice little planted tank!

What I can't decide is do I want an all in one, or to piece it out? Yesterday while at Petco I saw the new Fluval spec. It's very nice and shiny :D But it is sooo small. I mean, what else could I keep in there besides shrimp or a betta? Not that I have anything against shrimp and Bettas.... I already have 4 Bettas.

So then I am thinking about piecing it out. I can get a 7g rimless for $45, and the Finnex Fuge Ray R (this guy: Finnex Fugeray R Ultra Slim LED Red Clip on Aquarium Ray 2 II ADA Fish Light | eBay ) For $36. But then filtration comes in, and I won't have hidden filtration unless I go the canister route (which I don't want to).

Soo.. For a planted tank, in the 5-7 gallon range? What would you do?
 
I would piece it out. The Spec is a great tank, but it is just too small IMO. I have one, and I often find myself wishing it was larger. It is still possible to hide a HOB filter on a rimless- Brian did a great job doing this on a tiny 2g cube.

As you can see, he hid it behind some plants and driftwood.
ibhTyg3PXKC8Yg.jpg


I think the filter he was using is an Azoo Palm Filter. That might not be enough flow for a 7g, so maybe an Aquaclear 20 would be better.

What's your budget for this tank?
 
I think that looks nice. I could always plant the HOB as well... That would be fun, and something new.

As for budget.... Uh... I dunno. :D I'm hoping to do $100 for the tank, lights, and filter. Then who knows what for fish, plants, and substrate/hardscape.
 
I think that looks nice. I could always plant the HOB as well... That would be fun, and something new.

As for budget.... Uh... I dunno. :D I'm hoping to do $100 for the tank, lights, and filter. Then who knows what for fish, plants, and substrate/hardscape.

So with the 7g rimless you were talking about and the Ray R, you'd still have some left over for layout materials/plants and substrate. Any idea what kind of layout you want?
 
So with the 7g rimless you were talking about and the Ray R, you'd still have some left over for layout materials/plants and substrate. Any idea what kind of layout you want?

Cool. I honestly haven't thought much about the scape. Something natural, and not too demanding, but still look nice, of course. I'll have to look around... Unless you have any ideas. :) :brows:
 
With the help of Max, I have decided on the direction I want to go for this tank.
I'll get the rimless 7g tank, and the Fuge Ray R. This will be lower light, but with the right plants, I believe I can still achieve the lush, well scaped tank I am wanting. For plants I am thinking simple, like Micro Sword, some smaller crypt or anbubias, and Hygrophila Pinnatifida (thanks David for that suggestion) for the back, along with a piece of Manzanita DW in the shape of a root ball or something like that. I made a quick (and ugly) sketch of what I want. For substrate I will do dirt capped with sand. Simple and budget friendly. The tank will be dosed with Glut and liquid ferts to keep it easy.

The only thing undecided is stock. Not sure if I want to go shrimp tank route, or have some cool Nano fish I have never been able to have before. Oh, and the filter. Can't forget the filter :D


Edit~ Photobucket isn't loading, so the scape sketch will come in the morning :)
 
Here is the 'beutiful' sketch of that I want to do. It's actually similar to Brians 2g cube.



The red in the back left is just there because I didn't know what plant I wanted in the back left when I make the sketch.
 
Check out the 12 gallon fluval it's tall though so not a lot of planting room also the lights are a little low but if getting taller plants this is a nice tank been up and running for about a week it's my first freshwater tank so sorry if it's ugly :)
 

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